


Rocks in the Rock

by uniquepov



Category: Fraggle Rock
Genre: Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2013-12-14
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniquepov/pseuds/uniquepov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just another day in Fraggle Rock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rocks in the Rock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smaller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaller/gifts).



> Thank you to C, F, and S for the beta-reading. All remaining mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Don't own, don't profit, please don't sue. Just playing in Jim Henson's sandbox for a bit.

Doc grabbed a packet of sweets from the workbench. As he pulled it open, the cellophane ripped and the sweets scattered across the floor.

“Oh, bother,” Doc muttered. “Well, Sprocket will clean them up. They won't hurt him.”

Sprocket poked his head up out of his bed at the mention of his name, making an inquisitive noise.

“Treats, Sprocky,” Doc said cheerfully, indicating the sweets. Sprocket bounced up and nosed around the floor, licking up several of the brightly coloured dots. He nosed after a couple that fell through a crack in the floorboards, and he sighed.

 _Better luck next time,_ Sprocket thought to himself with a resigned huff. 

***  
Mokey hummed to herself as she hurried through the tunnel. It was a beautiful day, and she was on her way to meet Red at the swimming hole. She spotted a small, brightly coloured jewel, and she laughed as she scooped it up. 

Mokey burst into the clearing with the swimming hole, brandishing her prize. “Red, look at what I found!”

Red bobbed up out of the water, where she’d just dived in. “Nifty!” She climbed up the rocks and bounded over to where Mokey stood, brandishing her prize. “Where’d you find it?”

“In the tunnels on the way here. Isn’t it pretty? Look how it shines!”

“It’s really neat!” Red said enthusiastically. “Just one thing…” She gave the stone a considering look. “What exactly is it?”

Mokey paused. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I think it’s some kind of coloured stone, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Just then, Gobo and Wembley came ambling past. “Hi Red! Hi Mokey!” Wembley exclaimed. “We’re on our way down to the Great Cavern. Gobo says there’s some fantastic new Doozer constructions down there!”

Gobo gave them a cocky grin. “I found them while I was exploring. Hungry? They were pretty big!”

“Mokey, what’s that?” Wembley asked, pointing to the jewel.

Mokey gave her discovery another considering look. “I don’t know. Isn’t it pretty, though?”

Boober walked past on his way to the stream, arms full of laundry. “It’s probably full of diseases,” he said with a fatalistic shrug. “Just because it’s shiny doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.”

“What are you talking about?” Red demanded impatiently. “It’s just a shiny rock. How can that be dangerous? Unless I decide to throw it at your head,” she finished mischievously.

“Go ahead and joke,” Boober said dourly. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

“Speaking of warnings, I got a postcard from my Uncle Travelling Matt,” Gobo announced. “Want to hear it?”

“No,” Boober said.

“Yeah!” Wembley enthused. Red just groaned, turning her back on Gobo to examine Mokey’s find more closely.

“Dear Nephew Gobo,” Gobo began. “Today, as I was exploring Outer Space, I discovered that the Silly Creatures share a bizarre eating habit. I was blending in with a street gathering, when I noticed a number of Silly Creatures eating what appeared to be brightly coloured rock moss! On the corner, I saw a large Silly Creature standing above a machine that was spinning the moss around very quickly. He would take a striped paper tube and hold it above the machine, winding the pink moss loosely into a big, fluffy mass. As you know, I love rock moss, and even the unusual colour was not enough to deter me from sampling this local cuisine. It was unlike any moss I have ever tasted! It was sweeter than a Doozer stick and melted in my mouth as I tried to eat it. After a few bites, though, the moss was sticking to my hands, face, and moustache. These Silly Creatures never fail to astound me, but I’d approach any pink rock moss you find with caution. Love, your Uncle Travelling Matt.”

“Wow,” Wembley said wistfully. “Pink rock moss! Red, wouldn’t you love to see that?”

“I don’t think it exists,” Red huffed.

“If my Uncle Travelling Matt says he saw it, and tasted it, then it does,” Gobo declared. “Just because _you’ve_ never seen it, Red…”

“Now, now,” Mokey said diplomatically. “Let’s just all –“ She gasped, holding up a red-stained hand. “Look! The rock is melting!”

Wembley laid a hand on the stone, pulling away as a bit of red oozed onto his fingers. “Wow!” he said again. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Have you, Gobo?”

Gobo peered closely at the object in Mokey’s hands. “No-o-o,” he said slowly. “I don’t remember my Uncle writing anything about melting rocks, either. Mokey, where’d you find it?”

“In the tunnels on the way here,” Mokey said, pointing with her other hand, now also stained bright red. “Oh, dear…”

“I told you it was dangerous,” Boober said from the water’s edge, where he was rubbing socks against a washboard. “Rocks don’t melt! It’s probably covered in some weird, deadly fungus.”

“It’s not covered in fungus,” Mokey said. “It’s smooth, look.” She turned the stone over in her hands. Several white streaks were now visible, where the red coating was wearing away onto her hands.

“How do you know it’s not a trick of some weird new mould? I tried to warn you,” Boober said gloomily. “Don’t blame me when you all get sick and die.”

“That’s not going to happen!” Red said with an impatient eye roll. “Would you _please_ be quiet?” Boober subsided with an unhappy mutter. “Mokey, give me that.” She took the stone from her friend, pushing her towards the water. “Wash your hands. See if you can get the colour off them.”

Mokey rinsed her hands in the running water, pleased when the stain appeared to disappear. She reached to take her prize back, saying, “I don’t want you to get it on your hands, too.”

“Too late,” Red said, a trifle sourly, as she displayed her stained palms. “Does that rock seem like it’s getting smaller, too?” she asked as she washed her hands.

“It does seem a little smaller than it did when I found it,” Mokey admitted. “And it’s nearly all white, now, instead of that nice, shiny red. It almost looks like a regular pebble, now.”

“Pink rock moss and a colour-changing, melting rock!” Wembley said. “Pretty neat, huh, Gobo?”

Gobo gave a thoughtful hum. “Mokey, could I see that pebble for a minute?” Mokey handed him the rock, staring at her stained hands in dismay.

“Oh, bother,” she said dolefully. She turned to wash her hands again and slipped, catching herself on the rock ledge. “Ouch!” She sucked a finger into her mouth. “I cut my finger!” Her eyes went very wide. “It’s sweet! The stain is sweet!”

“Sweet?” Gobo stared at the pebble. “I wonder…” he trailed off, looking closely at the stone, before sticking out his tongue and giving it a tentative lick. “It _is_ sweet!” he exclaimed.

“Don’t put your tongue on it!” Boober admonished. “You’ll make yourself sick!”

“I never heard of a _sweet_ rock before, though,” Gobo mused. His expression brightened. “Maybe it’s a new discovery!”

Red grabbed the stone. “It tastes pretty good,” she declared, running her tongue along the edge for another taste. “It keeps shrinking, though.”

“Let me try! Let me try!” Wembley begged, bouncing up and down in his excitement. “Red, let me taste it!” Red handed him the rock, and his eyes went wide as he nearly fit the entire stone into his mouth. “Wow!”

“Boober, do you want to try it?” Mokey called.

Boober shook his head. “I have no intention of poisoning myself,” he said gloomily. “You go right ahead if you want to.”

“Mokey, do you remember where you found this? Exactly?” Gobo asked. At Mokey’s nod, he clapped his hands together. “Okay then! Let’s go find some more!”

“More?” Red asked. “How do you know there are any more?”

“I don’t,” Gobo admitted. “But we’ll never know unless we go look.”

The four Fraggles hurried back the way Mokey had come, leaving the white, shrinking pebble by the edge of the swimming hole. Boober eyed it with suspicion, reaching out a finger to poke at it warily. “I still say it’s dangerous,” he muttered as he went back to his laundry.

***

Mokey led the way back down the tunnels, stopping where she’d found the strange red rock. “This is it,” she announced.

“Everyone spread out and look around,” Gobo instructed. “Discoveries don’t jump out at you. You have to find them!”

“I found one!” Red exclaimed. “It’s purple, though.”

“I found a green one!” Wembley was practically vibrating with excitement. “And it’s just as sweet! It tastes different, though.”

“And this one’s yellow,” Gobo said. “I wonder what they are.”

“Let’s go ask the Trash Heap,” Mokey suggested. “She’ll know.”

“Good idea!” Gobo agreed. “Let’s go!”

***

The Fraggles snuck through the Gorgs’ garden, which was, thankfully, empty, and made their way to the corner of the garden where the Trash Heap and her companions resided. Philo and Gunge straightened up as the group of Fraggles came closer. 

“Listen up!” Philo began. “You are in the presence of the all-knowing-“

“All-seeing,” Gunge interjected.

“Trash Heap. Nyyyaaahhhh,” they finished together. 

Marjory heaved herself up and looked down at them. “Hello there! So, little Fraggles, what brings you here?”

“Oh, Madame Trash Heap; I found this pebble,” Mokey began, holding up the small white pebble that she’d retrieved from near the swimming hole. “I thought it was a rock, but it’s very sweet, and it melts! We found others, too,” she continued, indicating those held by Red, Gobo, and Wembley. “Can you tell us what they are?”

Marjory peered through her lorgnette at the bright objects. “Hmmm… curious, aren’t they? Where did you find them?”

“In the tunnels near the hole into Outer Space!” Wembley stopped licking at his pebble long enough to say.

“I suspect that _that_ is exactly where they are from,” Marjory declared. “I think you had better put them back in Outer Space where they belong.”

“Do you think they’re dangerous?” Boober piped up from where he was lurking behind Gobo.

“No, young one, I don’t think they are,” Marjory chuckled. “But I do think that they are something best left to others.”

Mokey looked sadly at her small, now-white pebble, then at the other Fraggles. Red and Gobo were eyeing their stones with suspicion, while Wembley was busily licking at his, which was now streaked with white and starting to melt. “I guess you’re right, Madame Trash Heap.”

Marjory nodded. “Trust me, little Fraggles. Go back into the tunnels and gather up all the stones like this that you can find and take them back into Outer Space. You’ll be much happier.” 

“We will,” Red promised.

With that, Marjory settled back down into herself.

“The Trash Heap has spoken. Nyyyaaahhhh!” Philo and Gunge said in unison.

The Fraggles slowly made their way back through the garden, so preoccupied with the thought of getting back to the tunnels that they failed to notice Junior Gorg, who had just awoken from a nap and was stretching in the sunshine.

“Woah, Fraggles!” Junior exclaimed. The Fraggles froze in surprise, then scattered quickly as Junior bent down and tried to scoop them up in his hands. He caught Red in his hands just as his mother came through the garden gate, then, on her way to the house, and Junior half-turned to her as he called,“Hey, Ma! Look! Fraggles!” Mokey aimed her rock at Junior’s head, but as he turned, it sailed harmlessly past his ear.

Ma Gorg shrieked, throwing up her hands, scattering the flowers that she’d been carrying. “Fraggles in my garden! Get rid of them!” She snatched up a broom and brandished it. Red followed Mokey’s example, throwing her stone at Junior and hitting him square in the eye with it. He yelped in pain, dropping Red, and his mother screamed and ran into the house. The Fraggles took advantage of the distraction to disappear back down into Fraggle Rock.

***

The Fraggles sagged against the walls of Fraggle Rock, breathing hard. “That was… too close,” Red panted.

“ _Much_ too close,” agreed Boober. “I _told_ you those rocks were dangerous!”

“It wasn’t the rocks, it was the Gorgs,” Mokey said.

“But we wouldn’t have been up in the Gorgs’ garden to begin with, if it wasn’t for those stones!” Boober pointed out.

Wembley looked down at his green-stained hands. “Mine melted,” he said, bouncing up and down. “Do you think I could have another one when we find them?”

“All right, all right,” Gobo interrupted. “Let’s go see if there are any more of these stones in the tunnel, and get them back up into Outer Space where they belong.”

“Awwwh, Gobo,” Wembley protested.

“We all heard what the Trash Heap said,” Gobo said. “These stone are better left to others.”

“And the sooner, the better,” Boober said.

***

In the end, the Fraggles found three more bright stones in the tunnels. Combining them with Gobo’s remaining stone made four, and the group made their way cautiously towards the hole that led into Outer Space.

“Are – are- are you really going to go into Outer Space, Gobo?” Wembley asked.

Gobo nodded. “It’s the only way to get these back where they belong.” Gobo took one of the stones in each hand and stepped slowly towards the entrance. Just then, a fearful noise reverberated through the chamber, and Gobo jumped backwards. “The hairy monster’s out there!”

“How are we going to get the stones into Outer Space now?” Mokey wondered.

“I know!” Red exclaimed. “Give one to me!” She took one of the stones, wound up her arm, and tossed the rock through the opening, where they all heard it bounce onto the floor and roll away.

“Good idea!” Gobo tossed the two he was holding, and Mokey took the last one and sent it sailing through the hole into Outer Space.

“Well, that’s that,” Mokey said. “What should we do now?”

Wembley, who’d been looking rather sad at not having any more rocks, brightened. “Hey! We were on our way down to the Great Cavern. Gobo said there’s some fantastic new Doozer constructions down there.”

“That sounds great!” Red said happily. “Let’s go!”

“I have laundry to do,” Boober protested, as Mokey took his hand and pulled him along behind the others. “Well… I guess the laundry can wait a little longer.”

***

Sprocket looked up from his basket as several of the sweets came rolling across the floor from the hole where the little furry creatures lived. He jumped up, nosing along the floor and licking up the sweets, happily humming to himself.


End file.
